Oak Lawn Seeks To Put A Lid On Unruly School Meetings

March 17, 2000|By Mike Duffin. Special to the Tribune.

It's no secret that Oak Lawn School District 229 meetings bear a strong resemblance to an infamous television talk show.

Both are led by guys named Jerry and are full of outrageous allegations and name calling. But while TV ringmaster Springer is expected to garner high ratings, the other, District 229 President Jerry Vahl, runs what typically should be low-key budget meetings.

"People are here just because there's nothing better on TV," said board attorney Dennis Brennan.

On Wednesday the board adopted new public participation guidelines, part of a concerted effort to clean up the monthly meetings after police were called in to settle an alleged shoving match on Feb. 16. The incident, which didn't result in charges, involved audience members arguing over the open mike portion of the meeting, officials said.

Other problems have included disruptive cheering or hissing when someone was speaking and board members being openly harassed.

"They taunted me to throw them out, and that's not what I'm here for," said Vice President Frank Bertucci. "When they get up to the mike, I don't laugh at them and make comments about them."

The board voted 4-2 in favor of the guidelines requiring people to fill out a form including name, address and a synopsis of their concerns before speaking to the board. After being recognized, the speaker will be limited to five minutes and must focus on agenda-related topics only. A request to put other topics on an agenda must come nine business days before the meeting.

Members Denise Pesek and Randy Rowsey opposed the plan.

Hiring police officers to provide security also was discussed because of frequent disputes at the meetings, but Vahl said he hopes it's not necessary.

Bertucci said he has received crank phone calls at home.

"My wife has received calls saying, `Frank is going to jail because he violated the Open Meetings Act,' " he said.

After hearing about the controversy surrounding the meetings, parent Gail Klimek decided to attend with her video recorder and offer tapes of the meeting to anyone wanting one.

"If someone has a misunderstanding of what's going on, (the camera) is right there," she said. "It shows who's saying what; there's no argument."

The large gatherings of people accusing the board, particularly Vahl, of using the positions for political gain have made three-hour meetings a common event.

"Our meetings (which start at 8 p.m.) are till 11, 12, 1 in the morning, when nothing on the agenda should take that long," Vahl said. "We have to get back to business and stop having debates every meeting."

Pesek and Rowsey also contested growing legal fees. Pesek compared legal fees from Brennan and the board's previous attorney, saying the other attorney's yearly bill was thousands of dollars less.

"There are issues brought to the board that require legal representation, and every year, (costs) are going to be different," Bertucci said.

A significant chunk of Brennan's fees are for attending meetings, and board members argued that the fees would be less if meetings weren't so long.

"I don't want to go to jail for something going on here," Vahl said. "As long as people are accusing me of wrongdoing, I want our attorney present."